DANCING youngsters from Padiham helped to cut the mighty Nottingham Forest down to size with a dazzling half-time display at Turf Moor.

A chorus of boos greeted Forest’s forlorn stars as they interupted the ‘amazing’ performance from 120 youngsters from St Leonard’s Primary.

They had been sent out early by their boss Steve McLaren at the break, on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline.

But the hapless players were made to wait as pupils performed a seven-minute piece of musical theatre, using giant puppets to highlight the perils of climate change and promote sustainability.

And when the Forest players tried to get back on to the pitch, the crowd let rip with boos, and the youngsters simply skipped around them.

Headteacher Julie Bradley said: “If we did our bit in helping to put Forest off then we’re happy.

“Some of the pupils were asking whether they were being booed - but we reassured them it was for the Forest players and they just got even more into it.”

The Clarets eventually ran out 5-1 winners on Tuesday night infront of 13,000 supporters.

Children from the Moor Lane school took part in the parade, which helped to launch the football club’s new community programme, in partnership with the Futures Learning Trust.

The school is working with Prof Paul Clark, the environmentalist behind the Incredible Edible sustainability programmes, and plans are being drawn up for Burnley’s own version in the coming months.

And it was the professor’s idea to stage a potted version of the giant puppet show, which was originally 55 minutes long when it was first performed for parents last July.

Clarets fan Adam Butschok said: “That half-time show was nothing short of amazing. The best half-time show I’ve ever seen in 25 years on the Turf.”

And Lancashire Telegraph columnist Andrew Greaves added: “I had not seen anything that funny for a while.

“The stewards were telling Forest players to move off the pitch so the kids could perform their show.”